The NDDC’s E. R. (Expansion and Redevelopment)Team invited the EDA to have some Brats and Brews at the Rueb on Tuesday night. The purpose of the informal gathering, beyond the brats and the brews, was to discuss the NDDC and the EDA working together to build on our strengths, take advantage of our opportunities and to maximize Downtown’s contribution to the greater community’s economic development.

The EDA members offered many ideas to the NDDC, some of them were not surprising, some of them were surprising. All of them were perceptive. They included the concepts that Downtown Destinations are Economic Cornerstones, that Investment in Parking can be a spur to Economic Expansion, and, perhaps most important, that, given the size of our community, What’s Good for Downtown is Good for our Community and What’s Good for our Community is Good for Downtown.

The EDA urged us to help them Gather Input and to Facilitate Implementation. In particular, they urged us to get more involved in the Q Block process.

To sum it all up: a good time was had by all. We’re going to do it again soon.